Rowley: Oranges are diseased

ORANGE crops growing at the St Augustine Nursery are diseased and must be destroyed, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has said refuting claims from opponents that these stocks must be preserved as “germ plasma” to supply other plantations.

Rowley’s disclosure came as he addressed a People’s National Movement meeting at La Horquetta Regional Complex on Thursday night refuting claims by former agriculture minister Vasant Bharath and Agriculture Society president Dhano Sookoo.

Bharath and Sookoo claim the land on which the nursery is located should not be used to build houses on, a plan Government intends to undertake.

Saying he was the only prime minister with his own agriculture adviser (Dr John Alleyne), Rowley said the expert had said 200,000 orange plants at that nursery have the incurable condition, Citrus Greening or Dragon Disease, and must be destroyed and replaced with healthy crops. Saying the disease has also been found in Tobago, he said, “So all our citrus is in danger.” Rowley said a similar situation exists with local stocks of buffalypso which are diseased with Brucellosis and must now be destroyed.